Continuing yesterday’s theme on fascism, responding to questions about the possibility of American fascism. There have been American fascist movements in the past, and perhaps more importantly a tradition of us-and-them politics, sometimes under the surface. There are fascists in the present who continue American fascist traditions. And we invite fascism in the future by telling ourselves that it cannot happen here. Exceptionalism opens both the front and the back doors…
In these remarks I invoke directly or indirectly:
Sarah Churchwell, Behold, America
Sarah Churchwell, “It has happened here,” New York Review of Books, 22 June 2020.
Rachel Maddow, Prequel: An American Fight against Fascism
Heather Cox Richardson, “Letters from an American”
Timothy Snyder, Black Earth
PS: Correcting myself — I said 19 October; I meant 18 October 2024. TS
Can fascism be American?